NEON

71. Rectangle Brownies

Kaplan.

"Kaplan? I thought you went to school baby?" My dad said. He stepped inside my room. I was laying on my stomach on my bed staring at pictures on my phone. "What's wrong Lani?" He laid down on his stomach next to me.

"Booker has a girlfriend." I said quietly.

"Shit." He says too quickly for me to process. I end up laughing so hard I start crying. I sit up and my dad does too.

He cradles me and I cry on his black collar shirt. "I'm sorry dad. You had this great news for me and I feel like I'm shitting all over it." I cry and wipe away the tears that were going in my nose.

"It's okay. It was your news. I was just the delivery man." I heard his smile." Plus, I've wiped your diapers before." He tried to joke.

I looked up and let him see me chuckle. "I am such a baby." I chuckle again and wipe away the wetness from my face.

"If it makes you feel any better, so am I." My dad says to me. We both laugh and he wipes away a tear that fell out of my eye. "I know you expect me to say something wise and lie to you and tell you that everything will get better but I won't tell you that because I don't actually know." He says.

"I can tell by the look in your eyes that you actually don't know where to go from here." He tells me and I feel my cheeks get hot. My eyes shift away from him and I look at my lap.

"Kaplan," he groans. "I didn't mean that." He took my hands in his. "You know what, why don't you call Kelly. She left a voicemail on the house phone- for whatever reason- and spend the day with her?" I eventually nodded and got out of bed.

"I love you dad." I said before he left my room. He leaned against the doorframe.

"Well golly, that just-" he put his hand over his heart and smacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "I'm sorry. I hate it when you see me like this." He took emotional to the next level. "Just give me a minute." He acted like aunt Viv when she watches a movie.

AKA, A pregnant woman watching The Notebook and feeling for the guy that gets shot in the war.

"Okay. Bye." I rush to get him out. He laughs and fights to leave.

"I'm just so sorry." He says, struggling to stand in front of the door.

"Dad!" I laugh and giggle at a weird time when he giggles as well. That's when I realized I am just like my dad.

I do not like that.

He finally gave up and I laughed even louder when I realized Booker was dating a guy. My laughing died down when I realized that Jaxx had sexual intercourse with a guy. I laughed so much harder when I realized Emily was being a pedophile with an 18 year old girl.

Well I guess technically my dad is a pedophile.

Well technically she is like 30 looking like she is 20 acting like she is 17 having the mindset of an 8 year old.

My dads loss.

What the heck even happened to her? Who the hell cares.

I wipe away the little mascara I had under my eyes and at the top of my eyelids and apply another layer.

I leave my bathroom and walk downstairs smelling brownies. "Dad?" I call. He was dancing around eating an already made brownie. He offered me one and I happily bit into the warm chocolate rectangle.

Dad didn't like the small bite size ones. He always made ones that he would enjoy and ones that would make him feel better.

He handed me the phone and I called Kelly.